Industry Insights

The global coiled tubing (CT) market size was estimated at USD 3.25 billion in 2016. Rise in exploration & production activities globally is anticipated to boost the market over the forecast period. Mounting demand for the oil and gas in transportation, power production, and other application activities, had led to the growth in the consumption of primary energy sources.

Increasing operating cost for extracting oil from existing wells and regeneration of matured oil wells are the major factors for the growth of various oil recovering techniques. In addition, the rise in shale gas projects and development in other unconventional resources is also anticipated to drive the market growth. Declining oil & gas production from the existing wells is expected to boost the market in next eight years.

Globally, governments of various countries, which supports both exploration and production activities of oil & gas, have formed several regulations and policies for extraction of conventional as well as unconventional sources. Some of the regulations are 30 CFR 250.616 and DRAFT IRP 21 (2016), which specific the guidelines for the equipment & operations used in coiled tubing. These regulations provide support to the market, which has led to increase in the usage of coiled tubing.

The market is divided into well intervention and drilling services. Rising demand for these services in oil and gas industry is expected to boost the market. A producing oil well can have a number of problems, that can affect the operation and production in the well. This can result in the negative effect on the revenue generated from the well. Once the oil well goes into operation some of the problem faced are the failure of equipment and change in injection pressure. To achieve optimal production and overcome these challenges from a producing well, coiled tubing is applied.

Coiled tubing is believed to be a cost- effective and time-saving solution for well intervention and drilling operations. During the production, the tube is inserted into the tubing against the pressure of the well, unlike the workover rigs which removes the tubing from the well to fix the problem.

Services Insights

Well intervention was the major service segment in the year 2016, which accounted for over 66% of the total market in terms of revenue. The segment is further divided into well-completion, well-cleaning and other activities (which includes retrieving & replacing damaged equipment, and perforating the wellbore activities). These operations aim to improve production from an oil well and are carried out during the whole life of an oil well.

Coiled tubing also allows some additional services, for instance, real-time downhole measurements (this is used in wellbore treatments and logging operations), EOR (enhanced oil recovery) processes (this include acid and hydraulic fracturing). Moreover, cementing operation and sand control can also be performed using coiled tubing.

Operation Insights

The pumping operation was major operation segment from past few years. The segment size was USD 3,250.5 million in the year 2016. CT pumping operation includes removal of fill or sand from a wellbore, acidizing or fracturing a formation, gravel packing, unloading oil well with gas, pumping slurry plugs, cutting tubulars with fluid, zone isolation, and removal of hydrocarbon, wax, & hydrate plugs. The market for the segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2017 to 2025.

Other major operations include circulation or liquefication, logging, and perforation. Among this circulation is the most commonly use operation. Fluid and gasses are circulated in the well through the hydrostatic head. It is used for cleaning light debris. It is also a substitute fill removal approach, which is used to pump down the production tubing.

Application Insights

Offshore application segment accounted for over 45% of the overall market. coiled tubing technique is widely used in offshore extreme environments. The North Sea is an example of extreme offshore applications. Common offshore applications include well interventions or production for extending well life.

China coiled tubing market revenue by application, 2016 (%)

In subsea application, CT is mostly used in circulating operation or a chemical wash, which is achieved by pumping down the chemicals to the bottom of the oil well. CT can also be applied to replace wireline and run electrical cable which is used for transmitting data. Using coiled tube for replacing wireline is common when conditions in the well are not conducive for gravity to pull the weight of the tool string into position.

Regional Insights

The demand in the North America region dominated the global market and accounted for over 42% of total market share in terms of revenue in 2016. Together Canada and the U.S. accounted for the major share in the global industry. The region experiences the availability of foremost resources, which includes skilled manpower, increased E&P activities, and latest technologies & equipment. These factors are responsible for the growth of CT market in the region.

Asia Pacific is also a potential market for CT. Countries present in the region such as China, India, Australia, and Indonesia have potential oil reserves coupled with huge investments through FDI channels in the sector. These factors are expected to generate profitable opportunities for the industry players. Coiled tubing industry is anticipated to show a significant growth in countries such as Argentina Russia, Algeria, and Poland over the forecast period.

Competitive Insights

The global market is moderately consolidated. It experiences the presence of giant and large number of key industry participants across the value chain. Major companies operating in the market comprises of multinational conglomerates which includes E&P companies, individual equipment & oilfield service corporations, microseismic and proppants companies. Major companies operating in global industry include Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Weatherford International Inc, Archer Limited, Calfrac Well Services Ltd, Cudd Energy Services, Superior Energy Services Inc., Trican Well Service Ltd., and C&J Energy Services, Inc.

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Segments covered in the report

This report forecasts revenue and volume growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis on the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global coiled tubing (CT) market on the basis of services, operations, application and region: